By Chris Weber
Most of the students at Governors State have never played cricket. That isn’t stopping Bilal Khan from organizing a tournament on campus.
Khan is a graduate student majoring in business analytics. He works as a graduate assistant for the Office of International Services (OIS). He also has a passion for cricket and engaging his fellow students.
“My mission for as long as I’m in school is to create events, activities and opportunities for the GSU community at which everyone can come together, make friends, laugh, enjoy and have fun,” said Khan. “I absolutely love what I do.”
A native of Pakistan, Khan hails from a place where cricket is a national obsession. Drawing from his own experiences as a captain and player for his high school cricket team, he understands how the sport can bring people together.
“Cricket is a game like baseball which involves two teams consisting of 11 players each. It has several formats but the most popular format, which is T20, consists of 120 balls played by each team. Whichever team scores the most runs, wins. A run is scored when a batter hits the ball. The bowler’s job is to restrict the batter from scoring runs,” explained Khan. “Although it requires a lot of hand-eye coordination, and you need to have quick reflexes and body movement to score runs or bowl and field freely, it’s not a hard sport to learn how to play.”
Recognizing the learning curve associated with cricket, Khan emphasizes that while it may not be difficult to grasp, practice is key to mastery. “Repetition is the mother of skills,” he affirms.
Khan intends to kick off the cricket intitiative in a casual, recreational manner, ensuring that all members of the GSU community feel welcome to participate and celebrate cultural diversity. To mitigate potential risks associated with the sport, especially for newcomers, he has chosen to use a tennis ball. Experienced players use a harder ball made for competitive cricket.
Khan is organizing the tournament along with the OIS and the International Culture Organization at GSU. The tournament and practices will be held at the GSU practice soccer field. A group of players has met once and will have three more practice sessions on Sept. 13, Sept. 20 and Sept. 27. The tournament date will be determined depending on practice participation and will be announced soon. To inquire about details and practice times, reach out to Khan through email.
